Big Brother 20 ended its run Wednesday with a taut finale that led to Kaycee Clark winning the final HOH competition, and then winning a majority of the jury’s vote and $500,000. She’s the show’s first openly lesbian winner.

Kaycee chose to take her day-one ally Tyler Crispin to the end with her, and the 5-4 jury vote shows how strong both finalists were as players. JC Mounduix came in third.

For a series that’s had a considerable amount of homophobiaand bigotry in the past, it’s a remarkable shift for it to have two LGBTQ finalists whose sexuality was prominent yet also just part of who they were as players and people.

Perhaps more significantly, Big Brother 20 seemed to pick up where Celebrity Big Brother left off, leading to a summer of strong game play and a lack of both returnees and ludicrous twists. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from people who have watched; I stopped watching in July, and while I don’t regret the time saved, I do wish I’d seen more.

The 90-minute finale—which was fast but which I also appreciated, and which paired very well with a 90-minute Survivor premiere—ended with Julie Chen saying they’d see us next summer.

That Big Brother 21 will air next summer is entirely logical—all three of its episodes were usually in the top 10, and the finale tied Survivor in the 18-49 demo. It performs well, is relatively cheap to produce, and has a fanbase that pays extra to watch online.

The slightly odd part is that CBS still hasn’t officially renewed the show—even after Julie’s announcement, which seemed like she was sharing news of the renewal.

In the hours after the finale, its finalists and several contestants talked to the press, and here are some highlights from those interviews, from why Kaycee chose Tyler to JC’s defense of his behavior.

Kaycee: “It’s so huge to be the first lesbian” winner

She said casting told her that: “Being full lesbian, with tattoos and into sports I was just different than what they’ve seen in past seasons.”

Kaycee was confident she’d win against Tyler. “He was getting a lot of blood on his hands. I didn’t. I was trying to be as physical as possible and he had the master plans. But I wanted to keep it simple,” she said. “The house was already going crazy and I wasn’t going to stop him from getting blood on his hands! And he did an amazing job, but I knew people weren’t liking him.”

Kaycee’s strategy going into BB20 matched what she did, which surprised her: “I wanted to stay as loyal and true to myself as much as possible. And I wanted to stay low from the very beginning. It’s crazy how everything worked out as how I wanted to play the game,” she told THR.

Tyler: “Kaycee deserved it”

Tyler celebrated Kaycee’s win and strengths: “I always say whoever won deserved it. It’s all about how you work the jury. Kaycee deserved it,” he told THR. “She had the personal relationships better than I did. And I was a nervous wreck before those speeches. I couldn’t get across exactly how much I played. ”

When Julie Chen Moonves announced that Tyler won the $25,000 fan favorite award, he looked almost as shocked as when she said her name as Julie Chen Moonves.

“That was the biggest shock of my entire life! It feels better than a win,” he said. “There was a thing in my head that said, ‘America does not like you.’ But I feel like they saw how passionate I was about the game and I just let everything out there. I didn’t think I could cry, but I cried a lot! I played the game to the best of my ability.”

JC: “I am not a pervert”

JC said that Kaycee’s choice at the end really didn’t matter: “I think she was going to win no matter what,” he told EW. “She had no blood on her hands whatsoever. We were the ones, me and Tyler, doing all the dirty jobs. I was the one basically spying and infiltrating the other side and trying to get them out. Tyler was winning and back-dooring people — we were the full team members. I loved playing the game.

JC’s response started with, “We were really close in the house,” and he explained kissing Tyler like this:

“I was in the middle of my sleep. I pulled his bandana down so he could sleep and I gave him a kiss on his shoulder. I guess if it wasn’t on his shoulder, honestly I don’t even remember that much. You know we were super friends and super close. I can be a lot of things but I’m not a pervert. I can tell you that.”

“I don’t even think, in my mind, I misbehaved that bad. It was all in jokes and jokes, and just living together and doing things as people. I got done so many bad things to me and I didn’t complain or nothing. I am so sorry if anyone out there is offended. I swear that I, nothing evil ever came out of my brain and stuff. … So, if anything out there is offending anyone, please do not take it that serious! I like to be open-minded, I like to understand and I like to express myself how I’m feeling all the time with words, I don’t like to go around in a circle. So, if I offended anyone, please, I am so sorry. Please don’t, like, troll me online!”

Bayleigh and Swaggy’s engagement—and pregnancy?

The finale included confirmation that three couples are still together: Tyler and Angela; Haleigh and Fessy; and Swaggy C and Bayleigh, who inexplicably got engaged on the live finale even though they only knew each other for 23 days and it’s been 3.5 months since they’ve even seen each other.

That was, of course, the season’s second engagement, after Victor and Nicole’s engagement earlier this summer.

An image he posted to Instagram included a note Bayleigh wrote for him while she was in the jury house. The note, which is at the bottom of the image below, mentioned “Sex during pregnancy” and included this: “There are so many changes happening in my body.”

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.